Turkish PM threatens crackdown on Twitter

The Associated Press

Posted:
03/20/2014 11:37:49 AM CDT

Updated:
03/20/2014 11:37:50 AM CDT

ANKARA, Turkey—Turkey's prime minister has renewed a threat to crackdown on social media where secretly wiretapped recordings have been leaked, damaging the government's reputation ahead of crucial local elections on March 30.

At an election rally Thursday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government would "root out" Twitter and other social media.

Erdogan said: "I don't care what the international community will say."

The Internet has in the past weeks been awash with incriminating leaked recordings, including one in which Erdogan allegedly instructs his son to dispose of large amounts of cash from a residence amid a police graft probe. Erdogan, who denies corruption, said the recording was fabricated.

Erdogan insists the leaks are the work of the followers of an influential U.S.-based Muslim cleric trying to discredit him.